David Jackson of the North Ireland Policing Board stopped by Peterborough Lakefield Community Police on Sept. 11 as part of a tour of police services in Ontario. Making visits to the Ottawa and Toronto police departments, the local police chief was pleased Jackson and a consultant called on the medium-sized service here.

“They were very interested in policing here,” says Chief Terry McLaren.

“They were impressed members of the service were involved in the community and getting feedback first-hand at meetings.”

Jackson met with Chief McLaren, Deputy Chief Ken Jackman and Police Services Board Chairman Alan Wilson. The chief says Jackson was on “a fact-finding mission” and was particularly interested in the community involvement of police officers and how engaged residents were in violence prevention.

Jackson, head of training and community consultations, told Chief McLaren the North Ireland police service is considering reducing its fleet of officers from the current 7,700 to 5,500, and exploring violence-prevention initiatives and pro-active policing.

Jackson was intrigued by the Peaceful Communities project, which encompasses a variety of community partners aimed at building peace and reducing violence in Peterborough, says Chief McLaren. “He thought it was fascinating we would take that type of approach. He was very pleased the police force is involved.”

What makes the Peaceful Communities project unique, is despite the police force being involved, it didn’t drive the project, the chief says. “This whole project was community driven.”

The visitor was interested in the forum and surveys conducted by the Peaceful Communities group and took home with him results from a questionnaire on violence that was distributed in the city and county. They were “looking at how to get the community input into policing.”

Aside from its involvement in Peaceful Communities, the police service has, since 2001, held town hall-style meetings, inviting members of the public to attend and address officers about issues in their neighbourhoods. The city of Peterborough and village of Lakefield is divided into five policing zones and community meetings are now held in each of those zones twice a year.

Chief McLaren says good things have come out of those meetings, including the establishment of Neighbourhood Watch programs. In fact, as a result of one Neighbourhood Watch program, police were notified about problems at group homes in the north end.

“Those are positive things coming out of it from a pro-active point of view,” says the chief.

Peterborough-Lakefield police officers are also involved in a number of committees and one officer is designated to spend half a day each week in every city high school.

The chief isn’t aware if Jackson will follow up on the local initiatives.

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